


L e g e n d s [Dragon!Scotland x Reader]

by LadyLyacaria



Series: Hetalia Reader-Inserts [4]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Comedy, Dragon & Human Interactions, Dragons, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Modern Era, Reader-Insert, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Shapeshifting, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 19:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13665528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLyacaria/pseuds/LadyLyacaria
Summary: «Dragons don't exist ...» You've always thought that dragons are nothing more than mythical creatures that exist only in fairy tales where the knight in shining armor comes to free the damsel in distress from the clutches of the wretched beast. But it seems like you've been mistaken. «... or do they?» ☼ ON HIATUS ☼Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I only own the story and the OCs appearing in it.✶Comments are highly appreciated✶





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING! This fanfic is unfinished (as of yet) and has been on hiatus for a long time now. I cannot promise that I will ever finish it, but I still wanted to share it with you, my dear readers. I hope you will enjoy it nonetheless~! ♥

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

Cycling around aimlessly, meandering through the different landscapes around the village you were living in with your bike, crossing bridges, following paths and dirt tracks likewise, all the while not coming across a single living soul … That was what you had been doing until now, armed with a big bottle of water, a jam-packed lunch box, sunglasses, and your mobile phone.

You had found some pretty cool and beautiful places during your previous bicycle tours, like an old, weathered bench in a hilly landscape right next to a bubbling stream or a small waterfall in the middle of a forest. These tours of yours usually lasted a couple of hours – and kept you more or less in shape because you were mostly just loafing about during the other parts of your free time.

This time, you had discovered a cave in a rock face near a sheep meadow. The entrance was like a yawning mouth filled with impenetrable pitch-black darkness that seemed to want to swallow you whole.

Now, you had enough common sense to know that entering such a cave, with or without a source of light, would be foolish and also very dangerous and most likely lead to you getting hurt. You would never try to explore a dark cave without someone else and professional equipment, and besides, you were far too jumpy and probably would have a heart attack every time you’d come across something that was moving in the dark.

But!

And now came the one and only reason why you were currently standing in front of said cave entrance, your [colour]-eyed gaze fixed on a point somewhere in the darkness. Your [favourite colour] bike laid discarded on the ground next to you while you were busy contemplating entering the cave against better knowledge. Said reason was that you had noticed some pretty … odd things in close vicinity to the cave.

First off, the most conspicuous thing that had caught your eye almost immediately: The ivy covering large parts of the rock was singed and even burnt near the gaping hole of an entrance.

Secondly, but this was only noticeable upon closer inspection: There were footprints leading inside the cave – but not any kind of footprints. They were clearly non-human ones. Why clearly, you may ask? Because who- or rather whatever had walked into the cave was at least five times bigger than you … and had claws. Clearly non-human, right? Right.

And, the third and last thing you had noticed was the fact that the sheep on the nearby meadow seemed to avoid going anywhere near the cave you were currently standing in front of in a two-mile radius.

Funny enough, you knew what these signs meant – and thus, you also knew what was inside this cave. Only the other day, you had read a book which mentioned the meaning of signs like these and gave instructions on how to act if one should see them. You had read it late in the night because a sudden thunderstorm had scared you from your slumber and kept you awake, and to kill time, you had gotten this book from the shelf right above your bed.

It had an emerald green cover with slightly shimmering ornaments in a lighter hue. Its pages, full with scribblings of you everywhere there had been space left to write or draw something, had a faux old look. Your parents had given this book to you as a gift for your sixth birthday, and you had gathered a few similar ones over the years.

Too bad that these books were all about dragons, meaning that these signs you had noticed were supposedly signs of the presence of a dragon. But dragons didn’t exist. Or did they? I mean, you thought that dragons were totally awesome and amazing mythical creatures. In fact, they were your favourite mythical creature of all times, which was why you had a couple of books about them, and you had read them all at least six times. But you weren’t really sure if you believed in dragons or not. (Though it would be hella rad if they actually did exist.)

You would’ve dismissed these signs, deeming them as a peculiar string of coincidences but nothing serious, and quickly forgotten about them – if it weren’t for the giant footprints one of which you were currently standing in. How could this possibly be? Never in your wildest dreams could you have imagined coming across something like this. Everything indicated that there was a very large creature with claws and possibly fire breath inside that cave. If your books were actually true, chances were high that this creature was a fucking dragon.

Curiosity overcame your apprehension in a matter of seconds and flipped the switch to your common sense, effectively shutting down your worries and silencing the voice in your head which was screaming about the possible dangers. Without a second thought, you pulled out your mobile phone, activated the flashlight, and walked inside the cave, eyes nervously flickering about and ears strained to hear even the quietest sound.

Even on the highest setting, the light of your mobile phone’s flashlight function only lit about two feet ahead. Beyond the light’s reach hung a thick curtain of darkness you couldn’t see past. It was surprisingly warm in here, not as cold and humid as caves usually were. It was getting slightly warmer with each step you took towards the presumable center of the cave. Your quiet and cautious footsteps were the only sounds you heard; they echoed against the stone walls shrouded in darkness and reverberated through the tunnel, creating an eerie atmosphere.

A breeze was blowing and changing directions at regular intervals, either brushing over your face or tickling your neck. It was like a giant creature was breathing somewhere deep within the cave, but considering the breathing’s steadiness, it seemed that the creature was sound asleep.

Fortunately for you, the tunnel pretty much ran in a straight line (as far as you could trust your rather weak sense of direction, that was) and did not diverge. Plus, the light from outside was still visible, following you like a bright eye peeking through the entrance hole whilst getting slowly smaller. If necessary, you could easily run back to the cave’s entrance without having to be afraid of getting lost in here or running straight into a wall and knocking yourself out.


	2. Chapter 2

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

A little while later (which felt like half an eternity to you spent being surrounded by complete darkness in a creepy cave with your mobile phone as the only source of light), the sound of snoring, at first barely audible and gradually becoming louder, joined the warm breeze, matching its change of direction every few seconds.

You were nearing the still sleeping creature.

Subconsciously quickening your steps, you almost broke into a run after some seconds, but you could pull yourself together before you did something as stupid as waking up the probably dangerous creature with your loud footsteps. Instead, you forced yourself to continue on your way as carefully as before, gripping your mobile phone with both of your hands and staring ahead into the heavy darkness.

Eventually, there literally was a light at the end of the tunnel, but it became barely brighter, thus creating the illusion that you didn't get any nearer to wherever the light came from. It seemed to be sunlight even, since it didn’t flicker like a torchlight would. Perhaps there was another entrance to the cave, an exit for you leading to a hidden clearing where the creature was sleeping.

It turned out that the sparse sunlight came through a crack in the dome-shaped ceiling of the huge cave chamber you had just entered. At the far end of the chamber were tons of shining objects of all kinds, from coins to jewellery – basically everything that seemed to be expensive, valuable, and shiny. They were piled up to serve as the bed for a monstrous, scaly creature. Trails of smoke were coming from its nostrils as if there was a fire smouldering inside of the creature’s body. That would at least explain why it got warmer and warmer on your way here.

Your mouth fell open at the sight of this creature, its lean body covered in scarlet scales glittering in the few rays of sunlight, partly hidden beneath the folded pair of wings. Its chest heaved with every calm breath it took. Its head, partially buried in the mountain of treasures, was resting on its front paws from which jet-black talons resembling an eagle’s (just a whole lot bigger) protruded, and the two sets of curved horns on its head had the same colour. Jagged and awfully sharp looking spikes ran all the way from the head to the tip of the creature’s tail where they ended in a blade. There were lots of massive gold rings around its horns, neck, and tail, fitting perfectly, especially into the gaps between two spikes as though they had specially been made for this.

It was, in fact and in all seriousness, a dragon. A living, breathing dragon.

If it should wake up, you would be so dead. It could crush you, rip you apart, bite your head off, roast you, kill you in a hundred different ways. This thought sent your heartbeat racing like a panic-stricken horse, and just like that horse, you felt the urge to turn tail and run. But at the same time, you were rooted to the spot, mouth still agape in both awe and fear.

Then, however, you noticed that the angle of one of the dragon’s wings was all wrong and awkward, looking very, very painful. The wing arm was obviously broken, depriving the creature of its ability to fly. An ice-cold shiver ran down your spine, like thousands of tiny needles pricking your skin. If the dragon was unable to fly, it also meant that it was unable to provide itself with food. Sheep and other animals wouldn’t just walk straight into the dragon’s mouth, would they? God knew how long this dragon had already been this badly wounded and likely starving.

Given the fact that dragons existed (there was no denying that now), that would also mean that everything written down in the books about dragons you had was also true – or at least the majority of it. You remembered that in one of these books was a chapter dedicated to the care of both externally and internally wounded dragons, so you might be able to help this dragon and nurse it back to health in whichever way. You just had to get your books and everything else needed to treat a dragon’s wounds.

Without further ado, you turned back around and set off for the cave’s entrance with your mobile phone serving as your flashlight. You even dared to run since it was more or less an emergency, but of course you tried to be as quiet as possible because you didn’t want to die at the hands of the creature you wanted to help. You didn’t want to die at all, but that was only a matter of course.

Little did you know of the jade green eyes following your movements through the darkness …

You returned home on the fastest way possible, pedalling at an inhuman speed. You were huffing and puffing by the time you arrived at the front door of your house in the outskirts of the small town. After chaining your bicycle to the bike stand next to your garage, you took the bottle of water and the lunch box from the basket and fiddled with your bunch of keys until you shoved the right one into the keyhole of the door, kicking it shut behind you.

You blindly tossed the bottle and the lunch box on the table in the kitchen and then dashed upstairs into your bedroom where you grabbed five books about dragons from the shelf above your bed. Hastily, you opened the red one called ‘The Secret Dragonology Handbook’ and flipped through the pages until you found what you were looking for. ‘First Aid for Dragons’ read the chapter title, and below that was a chart with signs for both external and internal injuries and instructions on what to do to help a wounded dragon.

“‘The treatment is easy because a dragon’s wounds heal very quickly,’” you read out loud, tracing the text with your finger, and skipped a few lines. “‘It is important to keep the dragon warm, at least at 130 degrees Celsius, and let it rest.’” You nodded to yourself as you closed the book and continued to sit on the bed, your eyes focused on nothing in particular and your mind lost in thought. Your heart was still beating rapidly in your chest, but not from exhaustion, but from excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That dragonology handbook actually exists, by the way. I own it. It's standing in the shelf above my bed, along with a few other books about dragons and mythical creatures in general, haha.


	3. Chapter 3

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

‘I need to get meat. Lots of meat,’ you thought, absent-mindedly tapping your index finger on the book. ‘How much does a dragon eat? Can I even buy that much?’ You paused for a moment and then scratched your head, your gaze grazing over the differently coloured book covers. ‘What exactly does a dragon eat to begin with? I bet they all don't eat the same things. I have to find out what kind of dragon the one in the cave was.’

With that in mind, you pulled the largest book (the green one you had read the other day) over to you and opened it at the double-page world map. On the right page, there was another chart which categorized the most well-known kinds of dragons according to their habitat, along with a silhouette of the respective dragon.

You had found the red dragon in a cave, so its habitat presumably was mountainous regions. There were two kinds of dragons living in mountains: The Asian and the European dragons. Your dragon resembled the silhouette of the European one the most, so you turned to the next page that dealt with the knucker, the frost dragon, and, most importantly, the European dragon.

“‘Food’ …” you began reading aloud from the European dragon’s profile. “‘Cows, sheep, and humans. The latter, because of their bitter taste, only if there is no other food available.’” You grimaced at the thought of you being eaten by the dragon. “Well, that’s good to know.” You hummed thoughtfully. “I hope the butcher’s shop has enough beef to feed a hungry dragon.”

You closed the books, crammed them into a messenger bag you got from beneath your bed, and rushed out of your room and down the stairs. After hurriedly locking the front door, you flopped down on the driver’s seat of your [favourite colour] car. The ride into town lasted a few minutes less than usual due to you not really sticking to the speed limit. (Luckily, there were no cops around to catch you in the act.) You parked your car right in front of the butcher’s shop and hurried to get out of your car and into the store.

Using the excuse of a (completely made up) family reunion – “a really big one,” you claimed with a sheepish smile when the guy working behind the counter shot you a weird glance –, you managed to buy fifty pounds of beef. The employee even lent you a cooler to transport the meat since you had forgotten to bring your own because you had been in such a hurry. Thankfully, there currently weren’t any other customers in here who probably would have looked at you like you were crazy and made this a lot more embarrassing for you.

With quick, determined steps, you left the butcher’s and, after heaving the cooler into the trunk, got in your car. You pulled your mobile phone from the pocket of your jeans and opened the map, tapping on the marker you had added after you had left the dragon cave. You then placed it on your messenger bag lying on the passenger seat, turning up the volume a bit. While your mobile was still calculating the directions from your current position to the cave, you already drove off with screeching tires, following your mobile phone’s instructions shortly afterwards.

To your surprise, the cave wasn’t as far away from the town as you had thought. The ride there merely lasted about half an hour, but the way from the unpaved street where you had parked your car as close to the cave as possible to the entrance of said cave took you at least five minutes because you had to lug the cooler with fifty pounds of raw beef in it. But you had made it eventually, and now you just had to find your way through the dark cave … somehow.

You had to carry the cooler with both hands to not drag it across the ground, but you also needed one hand to hold your mobile phone and use it as a source of light. The problem was that you didn’t have three hands to carry both the cooler and the mobile phone at the same time. You hadn’t thought this through. Nope. Not at all.

“Dammit!” you spat out and ran a hand through your [colour] hair in an unnerved manner, a frown contorting your features. How were you supposed to get the meat to the dragon now?

You didn’t want to damage the cooler by dragging it across the rough surface of the stony ground in the cave since it was only borrowed. But on the other hand, a source of light was obligatory, and the flashlight function of your mobile phone was the only thing you could think of right now. You either had to accept the damage of the underside of the cooler or you had to figure out a way of carrying the mobile phone without using your hands.

Cue standing around in front of the cave entrance motionlessly, with the cooler by your feet, while thinking about the choices you had, until you got the idea. Triumphantly smiling, you activated the flashlight on your mobile phone and put the latter in your bra so that the cone of light was shining ahead. This proved that bras were quite useful and a great place to store things.

You seized the handle of the cooler with both of your hands and made an effort to lift it up in your arms, clutching it to your chest and proceeding to enter the cave. The way to the chamber where the dragon was lasted just as long as last time when you had cautiously moved through the darkness to not trip over something and get yourself hurt. Now you had to carry a cooler weighing fifty pounds. But although your back and arms were aching from the weight resting on them, you didn’t give up and finally reached the chamber. The dragon was still there and still sleeping, so it hadn’t been an hallucination.

You set the cooler down right next to the opening of the pathway, turned off the flashlight on your mobile phone, and put it back into your trouser pocket. But then, you didn’t know what to do next. Should you wake up the dragon? Or should you just leave the meat here and come back another time to check if the dragon had recovered from its injury? You didn’t know what was appropriate when interacting with a dragon. Heck, you hadn’t even known that dragons really existed barely an hour ago!

“I had th’ feelin’ ye’d come back.”


	4. Chapter 4

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

Near-instantly, you turned to stone. Where did that rumbling voice come from? There was nobody else in here, except for the dragon. Did this mean that the dragon just spoke? You most certainly did not utter a single word, and sure as hell not with a Scottish accent.

Laughter boomed behind you and sent a tingling feeling through your rigid body that loosened your tense muscles. “Did I scare ye? Didn't think that dragons could speak, huh?”

So, it was the dragon.

You turned to face the red-scaled creature which was already looking at you, its orbs of green gleaming with mischief. “I did know that dragons could speak,” you said, inwardly surprised by how firm and calm your voice sounded although you felt like you would pass out at any second. “I just never heard one speak before.”

“Well, I sure hope sae,” the dragon replied as it looked at you intently. “Humans aren't supposed tae know abit dragons. But yer aren't like th’ other humans.” It nodded to the cooler behind you. “What did ye brin’ me?”

“I, uh, brought you some meat,” you answered, clearing your throat mid-sentence. Nervousness was getting the better of you in the end. You were talking to a freaking dragon, a monstrous creature that could breathe fire and crush you if you angered it by saying or doing something wrong.

“Why dae ye think I’d need that, lassie?”

You felt the unwavering, almost burning gaze of the dragon upon you. It made you even more nervous than you already were. “Because you seem to have a broken wing arm, and I thought that, um, you weren’t able to hunt. I was worried you might be starving.”

The scaly creature chuckled lowly. “Ye were worried about me? I’ve never heard a human say that tae me before.” He – you assumed it was a he because its voice sounded male – gracefully jumped from the pile of coins and jewellery onto the ground and approached you slowly as though not to scare you any further. “You’re interestin’. What’s yer name, lassie?”

You gulped as you fidgeted with your hands, avoiding to look him directly in the eye. “[First name] [Last name].” After a moment's hesitation, you added: “Do you have a name you go by?”

“I have one, but ye probably can't pronounce it,” he replied, eyeing you up and down. The heat radiating off of him felt comfortable on your skin. He was like a giant living heater. “An’ I don't have a petty human name. I have nae use for somethin’ like that.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I forgot ye humans like tae give names tae all kinds of things. If it’s pure necessary, ye can call me Alastair. That is the closest ye can get tae my real name.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Alastair.”

He gave a bark of laughter, making you flinch because of its loudness and suddenness. “You’re the first human who neither wants tae kill me nor runs away at the sight of me. An’ then you’re sae polite. If only all humans were like ye, there would be a lot more dragons these days. But enough of that, let me see what kin’ of meat ye brought me.”

You opened the cooler and stepped aside to let Alastair see what was inside. “I bought as much meat as possible without embarrassing myself completely,” you explained.

Alastair simply grabbed the container with two of his claws and poured its contents right into his mouth. Only now you noticed how many teeth he had, all of different size – and all pointed. Saliva dripped from his mouth as he swallowed the meat without even chewing. “It’s nae bad. Nae as good as the meat of a freshly killed beastie, but cheers all the same.”

“You’re welcome.” You closed the lid of the now empty (and a lot lighter) cooler after Alastair had put it down by your feet again. You wanted to sit down on it, but you weren’t quite sure about it. Standing was a safer option, just in case you had to run off quickly. But then again, you most likely wouldn’t even manage to set foot outside the dragon’s chamber before he would have already snatched you.

Thus, you sat down on the cooler, placing the messenger bag on your lap, and tried to make yourself as comfortable as you could while facing a dragon. “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you living in this cave? It’s pretty close to civilisation, and I bet I’m not the only one who ventured into your chamber.”

“They never got in here.” Alastair settled down in front of you, not looking away from you once. The warm air he exhaled fanned against your legs, and for you, it only intensified his resemblance to a heater.

“Do I want to know what happened to them?” you gingerly asked.

The dragon grimaced, pulling back his lips and baring his teeth. It seemed like he was grinning, but it looked weird (and a little scary too). “I only scared them away, lassie. Don't fash yerself. I don't eat humans.”

You remembered what you had read in one of your books about dragons. “Unless there’s nothing else to eat, right?”

He blinked in surprise and then moved his head closer to you, a spark of curiosity shining in his eyes. “Aye, they are far tay bitter. But how dae ye know?”

You patted on the messenger bag lying on your thighs. “I have some books about dragons, and that was written in them.”

“These books still exist?”

“‘Still’?” you repeated. “People already had books about dragons centuries ago?”

“Aye, sure. But nae the common citizens. They knew next tae naethin’ about us, all they did was fear us an’ set dragon slayers upon us. These had books about us, but probably nae the kin’ ye have. Their books were about how tae fin’ us an’ how tae kill us an’ other things along those lines,” he told you and sighed. “But there were also people like ye who took care of us when we were wounded an’ protected us from the slayers.”

“I guess it still wasn’t enough to keep you from nearly dying out,” you said in a quiet voice and hung your head, your gaze fixated on your feet.

Alastair blew a puff of hot, smoky air against you and caused you to gasp at first and then cough because you had inhaled the smoke. “Goodness gracious, cheer up, lassie. There are still more dragons than ye think. We just keep our distance tae ye humans. Ye forgot about us for the most part an’ think we’re naethin’ more than mythical creatures. There are still humans out there who know about us though, both the ones of yer kin’ an' dragon slayers, but we think it’s better if neither ay them fin’ us.”


	5. Chapter 5

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

“Do you want to see the books I have?” you asked, deciding to change the topic, and reached for the books in your messenger bag. But you didn’t take them out yet because Alastair still hadn’t answered. “My parents gave them to me on my sixth birthday.”

He seemed to ponder over your offer for a couple of seconds. “Aye,” he then said. “I wonder if it’s complete pish or if they’ve actually got the facts right.”

You chose the large, green book to show the dragon first, opening it at the first page and turning it in the dragon’s direction. It was too small for him to turn the pages on his own without damaging them, so you would do it for him.

“‘Ernest Drake’ …” Alastair read the name of the author out. “I’ve heard this name before.”

“He really existed? I always thought he was just a fictional person,” you said, sounding a little surprised. But then again, I thought that about dragons too, and here I am, talking to one, you added in your thoughts.

He rubbed his chin, creating an awful sound that made you cringe as the tips of his claws scratched over the scales. “I think sae. I didn't meet him in person, but one of my brothers told me about him. Said he met him in a village near London. From what I’ve heard, he seemed tae be quite friendly. An’ an eccentric. He told my brother he was writin’ a book about dragons for the future generations of humans. I didn't think I would get tae see his book.”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Four. Well, we aren't brothers by blood – nae all of us, that is. We used tae hunt together when we were younger, an’ then one day, one of them suggested we should become brothers.”

“Is there some kind of ritual amongst dragons to become brothers?” you wondered.

“Aye.”

“Do you get along with them well?”

“Sometimes. We often quarrel with each other coz of shenanigans, but who doesn't? They can be idiots at times, but they are my brothers. Even though I sometimes wish they weren't. They can pure drive me mad.” The dragon snorted, sending a hot gust of wind your way once again. “But I’m gettin’ off the subject again. Ye wanted tae show me the book, didn't ye?”

According to Alastair, the majority of what was written in your books was true, and the rest was, as he put it, “obviously” based on simple speculations and either only half-true or completely false. (According to him as well, the plenty of notes you had scribbled down on nearly every page in the books were funny and “kin’ of cute.”) Furthermore, he remarked that there were many, many more dragons than mentioned in the books, but he said that it would take too long to mention all of them.

After you had closed the last book and put it back into your messenger bag to the others, you stood up from the cooler. “I think I should go home now,” you said, slinging the strap of the bag over your shoulder.

“I think sae too.” Alastair craned his long neck to look up at the crack in the cave chamber’s ceiling. The last few rays of the setting sun were seeping through it and shining right onto the pile of gold and occasional spots of colour, making them glitter brightly and bathing the rest of the chamber in a warm light, similar to a giant light bulb. It was an amazing sight. “It’s slowly gettin’ mirk.”

“It was really very nice talking to you,” you said whilst switching on the flashlight of your mobile phone. You then made the mistake to shoot a glance at the dragon who was, as you noticed, staring at you. Near-instantly, a blush flared up on your cheeks. Were you seriously blushing because of a dragon? Yep, you totally were. Or rather because of the embarrassment he had evoked in you by looking intensely at you. “Uh …” you stuttered, trying to regain your composure and (fortunately) succeeding. “Can I come back tomorrow maybe?”

He flashed his sharp teeth in a smirk. “Of course, lassie. Come back whenever ye like. It’s a good an’ almost refreshin’ feelin’ tae be in the company of someone else than my annoyin’ brothers after all this time.”

“Thank you,” you smiled and grabbed the cooler with one hand. Now that the fifty pounds of raw meat were inside of Alastair’s stomach and not in the cooler anymore, you could carry it easily carry it with just one hand and hold your mobile phone in the other. “Good night, Alastair. I hope your injury will heal up soon.”

“It will, don't fash yerself. Good night tae ye too, [Name]. Get home safely,” he replied, climbing back on his piled-up treasure and, as a result, triggering off a small avalanche of chinking coins and jewels.

“Will do. See you tomorrow!” After a short wave of your hand, you made your way to your car and put the cooler along with your messenger bag on the passenger seat, getting in afterwards. During your car ride back to your house, you made a quick stop at the butcher’s shop in the town and gave the cooler back to the employee who was just about to close the store.

Just as you put on the handbrake a couple of minutes later after parking the car in front of your garage, your stomach demanded your attention with a sudden growl. Only now, you became aware of the unpleasant feeling of emptiness in your stomach, as if it was a hollow pit that desperately wanted to be filled to the brim with food.

You realized that you hadn’t had a proper dinner today, neither at noon nor this evening. You only had eaten something to breakfast and had had a little snack during both your part-time job working in the local library and during your bicycle tour – the latter during which you had discovered the cave and Alastair, and then you had been in too much of a hurry and too excited to think of eating something.


	6. Chapter 6

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

Your stomach growled again and made you aware of the fact that you still hadn’t eaten something, let alone left the car. Giggling, you took your messenger bag from the passenger seat and got out of your car, locking it before you entered your house and then locking the front door as well.

On your way through the hallway into the kitchen, you put your bunch of keys into the multi-coloured glass bowl you had crafted in a workshop as a kid and the bag next to it on the chest of drawers. You then nimbly prepared not only one, but two sandwiches with [favourite topping] for yourself and gobbled both down in a record-breaking speed, additionally downing a glass of [favourite soft drink].

With your hunger satisfied and your thirst quenched, you tidied up the kitchen by loading the dishwasher. Then, you went upstairs, grabbing the messenger bag from the chest of drawers and turning off the lights on your way to the stairs. After you had paid the bathroom a quick visit to make yourself ready for bed, you walked through the open door into your bedroom and took off your clothes which you discarded on the wing chair standing in a corner of the room. You threw your messenger bag with the books still in it across the room to join your clothes. You couldn’t care less at the moment. A thick blanket of tiredness and exhaustion had settled over your body.

All you wanted to do was to lie down in bed and fall asleep, and you set about doing exactly this. You switched off the ceiling lamp and the bedside lamp and snuggled under the covers, closing your eyes. Unfortunately, your wish for sleep was not granted. Instead, all you did was to toss and turn in bed as you tried to fall asleep.

You had to find out that this wasn’t the first time this would happen. In fact, during your first two weeks of visiting Alastair on a regular basis, every time as soon as you had time after work, you would only get off to sleep after about half an hour or even more from time to time. In the silence of the night, your mind wandered off to the dragon and wouldn’t come to rest until fatigue finally overpowered you. But luckily, this stopped when you somehow got used to the fact that dragons indeed existed and you had even become friends with one.

You made a habit of visiting Alastair in his cave at least three times a week – provided that you had enough free time. These frequent trips of yours mostly went the same: you bought a few pounds of raw beef wherever possible, whether at another butcher’s shop or at a supermarket, tried your hardest to ignore the funny looks the cashiers gave you, and gave the meat to the dragon who wolfed it down in one go.

You never went to a store twice, however, because you didn’t want to attract unwanted attention, resulting in you driving to the different shops in your town and in the ones nearby. Plus, from now on, you always remembered to bring your own cooler so that you didn’t have to borrow one from an employee again.

After his meal, the dragon would make himself comfortable on the stone ground a few feet in front of you while you took a seat on the cooler, and then he would tell you about the many things that had happened to him, about the diverse kinds of dragons he had met, and also about himself.

You learned that Alastair had grown up in Scotland (his thick Scottish accent was the most obvious sign for that) and spent most of his time in a cave somewhere deep within the country, until he had gone over to travelling the world. This way, it was more difficult for humans to accidentally find him just like you had. In exchange for these stories of his, you told him something as well – about yourself, your family, and your friends, and stories about funny or memorable things you had experienced.

Additionally, you asked him a big cluster of questions about the life as a dragon, how their society worked and so on. You wanted to know if dragons had the same understanding of family as humans (“Nae all kinds. Basilisks will even eat their own chicks if there’s naethin’ else tae eat.”), whether the different kinds of dragons fought one another (“They used tae. But all ‘at’s left nowadays is scorn an’ contempt an’ th’ occasional quarrel when they come across each other.”), and similar questions.

At first, you were afraid that you were pestering him with these questions, but he repeatedly assured you that it was alright. There was so much for you to learn about dragons, so much that wasn’t even mentioned in the books in the slightest, and you wanted to know it all.

Alastair opened up to you quickly and turned out to be surprisingly talkative. You approached him about it one day to which he replied that his kind was, in fact, the most talkative of all dragons, along with the Asian ones, whereas especially the frost dragons preferred to stay quiet. Though, he also added: “Well, but ‘at is just generally speaking. It all comes down tae th’ character ay th’ respective dragon in th’ end. I once met a frost dragon who loved tae gab, an’ at another time, a rather reserved Japanese dragon.”

However, he didn’t really seem to like to talk about his brothers. He became grumpy when you mentioned them or attempted to question him about them, and you learned to be content with what little information you were able to coax out of him.

Two of his brothers were actually brothers by blood, and knuckers. The other one was a European dragon as well and the only one Alastair got along with quite well, albeit it was just because of their mutually strong dislike for their last brother, another European dragon with crippled wings who could cast magic. He refused to tell you more about them, not even their names or more details about their looks or such, thus you quickly gave up on asking more questions – after all, you didn’t want to drive him up the wall.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, as of yet, the last (complete) chapter I've written; the next one is far from finished.

_leg·end_

_noun_

_/ˈledʒ.ənd/_

_a very old story or set of stories from ancient times, or the stories, not always true, that people tell about a famous event or person_

* * *

Today, three weeks after you had first stumbled upon the dragon in his cave, was the day Alastair’s wing arm would be fully healed – according to his assessment, at least. He was hopefully finally able to fly again, which meant that you didn’t have to buy and bring him a couple of pounds of beef every time you visited him. Not that you had minded looking after him. It was nice to see the soft expression of gratitude in his eyes that seemed to hold an inner, fiery glow. And, to be honest, you secretly hoped that maybe Alastair would allow you to ride on his back …

You had left the library in a rush as soon as your shift had been over and practically jumped on your bike, arriving at the cave’s entrance some time later. Without a moment’s hesitation, you jumped from your bicycle although it hadn’t even come to a full stop yet. You were all out of breath, beads of sweat were running down your forehead, and a dull pain was pounding against your skull from the inside, your heartbeat accelerated because you had hurried to get here as if the devil himself was on your heels.

You dropped your bike onto the leaf covered ground, hearing it clatter and rattle behind you as you were already running through the dark tunnel, wasting no time on pulling out your mobile phone and turning on its flashlight. By now, you knew the way through the darkness by heart, without tripping over your own feet or over a stone or such.

“Take it easy, lassie,” Alastair said, followed by a short, rumbling laugh. He was lying on his hoard of jewellery and coins as usual, one eye cracked open to look at you sleepily. “Ye look like ye’re gonna keel over in a faint. Why such haste?”

You jerked to a halt, breathlessly exclaiming: “Oh no, did I wake you?”

“Aye, but don't fash yerself, [Name]. I was only dozin’ away an’ about tae wake up anyway.” Having a good stretch, the dragon opened his mouth wide in a big, loud yawn that almost bordered on a roar, and then he blinked a few times, his gaze focusing on you. “Sae, tell me, what is the reason for yer haste?”

Before you answered him, you leaned forward and put your hands on your knees to catch your breath. “Well,” you began, taking one last deep breath to calm yourself down, and wiped the sweat off your forehead, drying your hands on your trousers afterwards, “you said that your injury would be all healed up today, didn’t you?”

Alastair eyed you up intently as he slid down the pile of silver and gold splotched with other colours as well. “That is the only reason?”

You nodded in affirmation, slightly squirming under his fierce, unrelenting gaze. “Yeah. I mean, you can fly again since your wing arm isn’t broken anymore. I’m happy for you. Isn’t that reason enough?”

He snorted amusedly, almost sending you toppling over backwards because of the blast of air that came from his nostrils. “Ye never cease tae amaze me, lassie.” He stopped several feet away from you and pressed his head down onto the ground for some strange reason, looking at you as if he expected you to do something.

“What exactly are you doing there?” you asked, confused by the odd pose he had adopted. He hadn’t lain down, his torso was still standing, supported by his four clawed feet, but his head and parts of his long neck were, as mentioned before, pressed onto the stony ground. Did he want to pounce on you or what?

The dragon rolled his bright green eyes. “Ye humans are slow on the uptake,” he muttered. “C’mon, climb up already.”

Your breath hitched in your throat just as your heart jumped in your chest. “You mean, like, you want to take me with you?” you asked, just to make sure that you had heard right and you had really been offered to fly with Alastair just like you had hoped to. “Up in the air?”

“Precisely.”

Immediately, a huge grin crept over your face. You clambered onto Alastair’s neck without thinking twice about it, gripping his smooth, red scales that were about the size of your hands. You sat down right behind his head between two relatively small spikes – they got a lot bigger on their way down his spine –, very careful not to touch them, and looked for something to hold on to. Those spikes weren’t an option because you would more likely slit your hands open on them. Perhaps you could grip the dragon’s scales, but you didn’t think that they would provide a secure hold.

Alastair, who had noticed your struggle, said: “Just grab my horns an’ hold on tight, lassie. I won't perform any darin’ manoeuvres and I’ll make sure ye don't fall off.”

“Thank you.” You clasped the pair of horns nearest to you and pressed your knees against his neck as though you were sitting on a galloping horse. (You had actually taken riding lessons years ago until you had fallen off the horse and broken your wrist.)

“Are ye ready?”

“I think so.” Gulping audibly, you took a very deep breath afterwards. Your pulse was racing again, and you could hear the blood pumping through your body in your ears. Nothing had happened yet, but the thought of what was about to happen still made you both excited and nervous. “I’m ready, I guess.”

“Let’s go before ye change yer min’.”

“That’s probably a good ide–AAAAHH.” The last part of your sentence ended in a surprised yelp when the dragon unexpectedly lunged forward and broke into a run, moving his massive body with ease through the now rather narrow tunnel towards the cave’s entrance.

Instinctively, your hands flew from his horns around his neck, but it was far too broad for your hands to reach all the way around, and you ducked down, bringing your body as close to Alastair’s as possible without touching the spikes protruding from his spine. Your cheek was squashed flat against his scales as you were holding on for dear life, your heart dropping down into your stomach.

You now knew that you were not ready at all.


End file.
